There’s a rather interesting Virtual On Memorial Event being held online this Saturday. It will feature various exhibitions of the various games (basically top players kicking the shit out of each other for your entertainment). As well as talking head type segments with various people to do with the series (though Juro Watari appears to be absent on this, which is odd). Some people from Hasegawa and Volks will be present too, though Kotobukiya aren’t for some reason. In any case, the event will be streamed via NicoNico. As this is a week before TGS, our virtuaroid sense is tingling somewhat. New game perhaps?

Following on from Bandai’s reveal of a Super Robot Chogokon Shin Getter-1, we’ll also be getting a Mazinkaiser too later in the year. Whilst this design was featured in an OVA, its origins stem from the Super Robot Wars games. Over the years we’ve bought all manner of toy variants of this design from the Aoshima figures as well as the Max Factory and even Revoltech versions. However, this looks like a great little toy and unlike the previous bigger releases this won’t cost crazy amounts either. Priced at a very reasonable 6,800 yen and released in November, this Mazinkaiser looks great. If you’re at all tempted you can also pre-order the toy here.

In an interesting move, Sentinel have announced one of the Blodia variants from Cyberbots to join their Riobot ranks. Specifically that of the Blodia Riot. Like the base unit, the torso is shared but the legs and arms are somewhat different. The latter being the most notable as it has a Rocket Arm. As with the other Riobot toys, this too will be fairly gimmick ridden as well as sporting a good amount of diecast too. However, all this comes at a price and at 16,590 yen it’s considerably more than the standard Blodias set for release this July. In any case, you can pre-order the Riot variant for its October release here.

After Yamato shut its doors, we heard rumours that Arcadia had bought the remnants of the company out. It now seems that those rumours had an element of truth to them, as we’ll be getting a 30th Anniversary 1/60 scale VF-1J toy in August. Whilst it looks pretty hideous and is no more than a re-paint of an already existing toy, this is still good news for Macross fans. Especially as Arcadia are also still planning to release Nekki Basara’s guitar too. In the meantime, if you really want you can pre-order the new VF-1J here

Whilst this is not the first toy of Sakura Shinguji’s pink custom koubu from the Sakura Taisen series, this new Variable Action toy from Megahouse looks to be one of the best. Released at the end of September for 7,800 yen, it has a nice sculpt and what appears to be decent articulation too. Sadly, it doesn’t look like it comes with a Sakura pilot figure (though this likely helps to keep the price down). If you are one of those that enjoy pink steampunk mecha then make sure to pre-order yours here.

Bandai are deciding to grace us with a new Super Robot Chogokin figure of Shin Getter-1 this August. At 7,140 yen, it’s not exactly cheap but neither is it overly expensive either. Like the other toys in this line, expect a lot of diecast and an overall excellent sculpt and finish. As for the design itself, its gaming heritage is extensive and was originally premiered in Super Robot Wars 4. Admittedly it was work in progress for the manga and then later for an OVA but Shin Getter has been a staple of Super Robot Wars for as long as I can remember. It’s likely we’ll get the other Getter Machines too, with Shin Getter-2 being notable with its influence on the drilltastic Gurren Lagann, with the Getter Rays and subsequent Spiral Energy being also of note too. Whilst this isn’t the first Shin Getter-1 toy, with the Aoshima figures being really quite something, it will be more reasonably priced and slightly less huge.

Sentinel have updated their site for the forthcoming Riobot Blodia toy from Cyberbots. Showing all manner of new shots of the figure, which emphasises its use of diecast (see above), and a promotional video that shows of its various gimmicks. All told, it looks fucking amazing and is definitely going to be the best Blodia figure we’ve ever had. Whilst it is somewhat pricy (10,290 yen) it is a lot cheaper than many of Bandai’s high end outings, which is impressive. It will also be available in 2P colours as well (blue basically). The toy is released this July and you can pre-order yours here.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii Nu Gundam and Robot Damashii Sazabi as seen in the climactic film Char’s Counterattack. In addition, we’ve also included some game and anime footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

So the much loved Blodia from Cyberbots will be getting a rather lovely looking toy, from Sentinel’s increasingly amazing Riobot line. We’ve covered this before but now we have some very nice pictures of the toy in question. As an aside, Sentinel’s Tumblr is worth bookmarking too. Despite the different player colours, which is a nice touch, the paint scheme on the figure looks very nice indeed and it also appears that the toy will have some manner of diecast (this being a good thing obviously). Still no word on a release date or price but it’s nice to know that Sentinel haven’t forgotten about the Blodia.

You can now pre-order the Todd Guiness and Tokamak Rovsky coloured Robot Damashii Dunbines via Bandai’s online premium shop. These are shortlived units from Aura Battle Dunbine, leaving only Show Zama’s iconic mauve Dunbine to hold out for the remainder of the series. Whilst we already bought the other Robot Damashii aura battlers we may pass on these but it’s pretty cool that Bandai are at least doing toys of them. Buying both toys will cost you 8,400 yen and they will be released in April of next year.